On November 20, 2014, Region VII of the Michigan Association of School Administrator’s selected Mr. Jeff Rehlander, Superintendent of the Gobles Public Schools, as it’s 2015 MASA Regional Superintendent of the Year Award recipient.

MASA is a statewide association that represents superintendents of Michigan’s local and intermediate school districts. The mission of MASA is to develop leadership and unity within it’s membership to achieve the continuous improvement of public education in Michigan.

The Regional Superintendent of the Year Award is presented by each of nine regions in the MASA organization to an individual who has shown tremendous effort and dedication to enriching the lives of children and the community as a whole. Mr. Rehlander has demonstrated strong and successful leadership in this important role as the Gobles Public Schools Superintendent of Schools.

Mr. Jeff Rehlander understands the important connection between “Strong Schools and Strong Communities.” “Community outreach has been at the center of Mr. Rehlander’s focus at Gobles Public Schools, said Mr. Brian Beam, school board president of Gobles Public Schools. With Superintendent Rehlander’s clear vision for the district, he has elevated the profile of the Gobles Public Schools and is continually moving the school community forward.

Mr. Rehlander will be formally recognized for this honor at the January 2015 MASA Mid Winter Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA) Executive Board has appointed Jeff Rehlander, Superintendent, Gobles Public Schools, to the Governing Board of AASA, the American Association of School Administrators, for a one-year term that begins in June, 2014. There are four school leaders from the State of Michigan who serve on the national governing board.

AASA, also called the School Superintendents Association, founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 13,000 educational leaders in the United States and throughout the world. The organization is a chief advocate for children in the country, and they work to provide the highest possible quality public education for all students, while also working to develop and support school system leaders.

As a member of the governing board, Rehlander will represent Michigan in national conversations about public education and leadership and development of school administrators, and also report back to school administrators in Michigan the work of the national Governing Board. AASA divides the nation into seven regions, and Rehlander and the other Michigan leaders serve in Region 3 with school leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! I hope that you are staying warm and being safe.

The last thing we all imagined when we went on the holiday break was to come back to the weather that 2014 had in store for us.February 18, 2014 marked the eleventh day of school that the Gobles Public Schools have missed due to inclement weather for the 2013-2014 school year.

Michigan law requires students to be in class for 1098 hours of instructional time or at least 170 days. We are only through the month of January and part of February and we have already exceeded the State limit of six "snow" days, with the likelihood of more weather problems before June. Barring any change from the Michigan legislature, it is likely that we will need to extend the school year to make up missed class time.

When considering how instructional time needs to be made up, the goal is to make it as least disruptive to students and their families. As we go forward from here and in cooperation with the Gobles Educational Association, the district will continue to examine our options. One thing the school community can plan on, there will be no changes to Spring Break.

It has been a frustrating winter so far and extremely challenging for sure. I empathize with parents scrambling to make child care arrangements. The last thing we want to do is call off school, but please know that our first priority is child safety.

To help give parents and community members a better perspective, I will explain the decision-making process that I implement on whether to call school off or not. Again, student safety is my top priority and is the number one consideration in all school closings.

Several factors aid my decision to keep school buildings open or closed, as follows:

2. Road conditions provided first hand by district official that travels roads between 3:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.;

3. Temperature, wind, and wind chill information from local meteorologists;

4. Drifting and snow accumulations information from police and the county highway department;

5. Parking lot conditions;

6. Building conditions;

7. Discussions with other district superintendents;

Some of these factors are difficult to assess before the morning in question which often leaves parents less time to plan. There is no way to be perfect with this. I can only make the best decision in real time with the best available information. Please know that I will do whatever the weather warrants, no matter how many school days we will need to add to the month of June. I will always be guided by doing the right thing for student’s safety and transportation.

Events similar to what happened last winter in Connecticut and more recently here at Gobles cause us to review our safety program and practices.

Last spring, I asked The Office of Domestic Preparedness of the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department to come out to our school district to conduct a full safety audit of Gobles Public Schools. The auditor looked at a number of the elements that make for a safe and secure campus. I was glad to hear from him that we are doing everything that we can do at this point in time to make sure Gobles schools are safe for students and for the learning environment we all expect.

The auditor did make some recommendations about ways we could improve our physical facilities and the security technologies we use, and in the coming weeks and months you’re going to hear in great detail how those recommendations have been incorporated into a facilities and technology upgrade proposal which we will be asking the community to support in May, 2014.

Then last week, we had a reminder about why safe and secure school facilities are so important. When we received news that the police were involved in a manhunt in areas that border the community of Gobles, we chose to take voluntary steps to provide for maximum safety and security for our students. We did not take these steps because there was a threat to our students, but because we will always choose the side of caution and safety when it comes to the well-being of our students.

The lockdown drill last Thursday will be used as an opportunity to continuously improve our safety and security procedures and communication practices in both buildings, something we have always done, and will always do in Gobles. This is the same reason we run fire drills and tornado drills every school year. We learned again last Thursday, like last spring, that we are doing things right in Gobles, given our facilities and the technology resources at our disposal. We learned there are some areas we can improve.

I invite parents and community members to examine the details of the bond proposal as they are made public, and to offer any suggestions or input that you think might help us continue to improve in any area, but especially in the area of safety and security.

And when we put the facility and technology upgrade proposal in front of the community for a vote next May, it will be a chance for the community to support the facility and technology improvements we desire.

Gobles is and will continue to be a safe, secure campus for students, and a great environment for learning. That’s our commitment you. We also appreciate your ongoing commitment to Gobles schools so that we are able to take recommendations and act upon them, on behalf of all the students and families we serve.

GOBLES, MI -- A $6-million proposal to improve facilities and technology in Gobles Public Schools moved ahead at the August 26 meeting of the Gobles Public Schools Board of Education.The superintendent said officials are considering a putting a tax issue before district voters to fund the work, possibly in early 2014.

The school board named Kalamazoo-based TowerPinkster as architect and the Skillman Corporation, of Portage, as construction manager for a project that calls for $3.8 million in facility renovations and $2.2 million in technology upgrades. The board also designating bond counsel and other consultants.

Superintendent Jeff Rehlander said district officials are looking to repair and reconstruct roofs, electrical and mechanical systems and upgrade wireless technology system. Also proposed are safety-related improvements such as new entrances, doors and security cameras.

"We're also looking at one-to-one devices for our students," Rehlander said, including possibly equipping each student with a laptop or Ipad.

The proposal is part of a months-long information-gathering process and next goes to a steering committee for further consideration.

"They may take it down," Rehlander said. "They may keep it as is. We're going to ask them for input."

In order to sell bonds to fund the work, the district would need voter approval of a property tax to pay off the debt, the superintendent said. Currently, a levy of 2 mills would generate about $6.44 million.

"We're hoping for a February vote or a May vote," Rehlander said.

A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value of a property. A 2-mill levy on a property with a taxable value of $40,000 would cost the owner $80 a year.

Part of the reason for the proposed upgrade is to help attract more students to Gobles, according to Rehlander, in this time when parents have more options to send their children to districts outside their usual boundaries.

"What that's forced schools to do, we have to work on marketing, we have to work on branding ourselves," Rehlander said. "We have to work on making ourselves attractional."

Hello. My Name is Jeff Rehlander. I am the Superintendent of Schools with Gobles Public Schools. If this is your first visit to the new Gobles website, welcome. If this isn't your first visit, welcome back. We are excited to share with you what we hope will become a resource for all things Gobles. For example, there are class schedules, convenient ways to stay in contact with teachers and administrators, information about our athletic programs, arts and cultural events at the school, and the good news we have to share about our school district, students, and professionals here, and that means past, present, and future.

On the left side of this homepage you'll see the navigation bar, and on the top of the home page you'll see buttons for the main areas of interest for visitors to our site. You'll find that our website is still a work in progress, but we want that to always be true. Every time you visit we want you to find something new, whether it's an article on our main page featuring a student or professional, or a feature in our "Testimonials" section sharing the success of a Gobles graduate or community member. Take a look at Testimonials today and you'll see an article about 2009 Gobles graduate Evan White and the great things he has accomplished in college that started in our elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.

At the bottom of the home page you'll see buttons that will connect you to other opportunities for information regarding the district and the schools. If you are a Facebook or Twitter user, click on the buttons and join our social network communities. Help us build connections by sharing the good news and need-to-know information about our school. As we get into the school year, you'll find information and features added to our website.

More than anything, we want this site to be the place you can turn when you want or need information about Gobles schools.